four.
( the lightning thief.  )
❛ flags captured, feelings hurt. ❜

"COLETTE, MOVE." Whined the small and golden-haired son of Apollo as he pushed his older cousin's shoulder back and fourth childishly from where she lay on the couch. In her defence, the soft-cushioned couch in the corner of the Apollo cabin was much comfier than any in the rest of the cabins. But it was ever the annoying for little Will Solace.

Colette lay flat on her back, her eyes closed as she suppressed the smile that threatened to break out onto her lips. "What is that little buzzing sound in my ear?" She asked rhetorically, "Lee, do you hear that noise?" She ignored the younger boy, instead looking up to her older cousin who grinned back in amusement from where he rested on his bed, a comic flat on his stomach.

"I'm afraid I do, Collie." Mused the older blonde, a playful smile breaking across his face like a flash of dawn upon a twilight sky. "How peculiar."

Will let out another annoyed grunt, "Collie, you reek!" He gagged dramatically, "Lee, you're my brother! Defend me, not her." He grumbled again, pulling at her arm so hard that it almost successfully pulled her off the couch.

Lee let out a bark of laughter, climbing off of his bed and ruffling his younger brother's hair playfully. "Relax, William. No need to get so defensive." Laughed the boy, grimacing though when he actually got closer to his younger cousin, "oh, my gods. he's right, Collie, you smell like shit! What the hell happened to you?"

The girl sat up in offence, gasping at the taller boy's words. "Lee, what the fuck!"

"Language!"

"Wait, haven't you heard, Lee?" Prompted Kayla Knowles. She was one of the younger children of the Apollo Cabin and adorned a splatter of freckles upon her cheeks, apparent like that of dots of paint. She grinned, lowering her guitar and looking over to the cabin councillor with a smirk, "Collie's made a new friend. And he's a boy!"

Lee gasped in surprise, turning back to Colette who rolled her eyes at the dramatics that seemed to run through each of the Apollo Campers blood. "No!" He gasped and shook his head in disbelief, lifting Colette's legs so he could actually sit on the couch before settling the girl's claves back over his thighs. "What happened to hating all men? I was literally just forcing Silena to make us matching shirts!"

"I don't hate all men... just most of them."

"You so do." Popped up Will, having given up and taken to sitting on the floor against the couch. "You told me that you'd 'rather experience the twelve labours of Heracles than so much as hold hands with a boy.'" He claimed, his eyes of skylit blue narrowing at his cousin who pushed him away with a hand to his forehead.

Grabbing a cushion from behind her head, she tossed it as far as she could at Kayla who laughed in response as she moved to dodge the soft fabric. "I would! Kayla's just making it dramatic, I swear."

"Oh, and who is this Romeo who's stealing away my baby cousin?" Lee feigned sadness, yelping when the cousin in question kicked him in annoyance, and though they were simply teasing her, she grit her teeth unhappily. It awoke something sickly inside of her—it wasn't that she despised romance, but it just seemed so pointless to her.

"You're all so annoying." Groaned the brunette, "it was just some random kid who flooded the toilets. If anything, I'll never speak to him after today—I only did 'cause Chiron asked me too." She defended weakly, huffing as she stood up from the couch. "I'm going to shower anyway, seeing as you don't want me here, William." She teased the younger boy.

Will nodded, happily jumping up onto the couch now that his cousin has stood up. "You're right, I don't."

"Be back by half-seven," Called out Lee, "and don't douse yourself in toilet water again!" She heard before she could take a step out of the cabin. She'd always liked the Apollo Cabin, it was radiant and alluring as it dripped in gold like fragments of pure sunlight carved and crafted into a home for those inside.

She poked her head in once more, "Lee?"

The boy lit up, "yes, my darling dearest cousin?"

"How's Angelica Marie?"

A loud, betrayed gasp rung out through the cabin as Lee's eyes went theatrically wide as he begun shouting something she didn't hear. She sprung out of the cabin before she could acknowledge the ruckus inside, laughing as she did so before making her way back to her own cabin to pick out a fresh set of clothes.

Angelica was a daughter of Aphrodite, one that Colette quite liked compared to the others. She was a year older than Lee with curly auburn hair and bright hazel eyes. It'd taken a while, but sooner than later Colette had cracked Michael Yew, another of her cousins, into giving her dirt upon Lee. The dirt being his painfully obvious liking towards the daughter of Aphrodite.

And she liked to tease him with it.

It didn't take long to shower, rinsing herself of the plunging scent of sewage and instead replacing the pungent smell with the sweet scent of lavender and jasmine. She felt cleaner now, and sighed contently as she shrugged on the fresh set of clothes—consisting of an orange 'Camp Half-Blood' shirt and denim jeans before braiding her hair down her back and over her shoulder.

It was quiet in her cabin, but not uncomfortably. It was serene like that of the silence within a forest, tranquil and homely as it swallowed the interior of the home. The inside itself was homely, too. With stacks of bows and arrows, a fireplace with an amber flame crackling and fizzing, and velvety soft sheets to match extremely fluffy pillows. From the ceiling, glow-in-the-dark stars hung down and twinkled like real stars, illuminating the room. It was home.

Nevertheless, Colette was quick to exit her cabin and stroll over to the dining pavilion. She turned to glance over her shoulder, watching as the walls of her cabin had been to illuminate in a silver glow, like the essence of pure moonlight that encapsulated the cabin and with it's argent glint. Alongside her, Naiads and wood nymphs emerged from trees and the lake, as did the other campers and satyrs, all talking and laughing with each other as they did so.

At the pavilion, torches flamed and danced in a samba of flickering gold and orange, snapping at those who walked too close and from the way the Hephaestus' kids snickered to themselves, she could tell it was their doing. A central fire blossomed in a spitting flame that emitted loud clouds of heavy smoke and ash. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables, including Colette's own, had been rendered empty and lonely, but the cheer of the campers had instantly dispersed the cold isolation of the four.

When Colette had first arrived at the camp, she'd been sat with the Cabin eleven campers until she'd been claimed by Artemis. But at the realisation she would have to sit alone every meal time, Chiron felt too sympathetic to let the small, teary-eyed, eight-year-old girl do so and had instead allowed her to sit with the Apollo Cabin given her mother and their father were sibling deities.

But what was once supposed to be a one-time experience had become a common occurrence.

She sat in between Will and another of her cousins Gracie, and opposite Lee (who still refused to speak to her after her playful comment previously, only slipping up once or twice because he really couldn't go five minutes without filling her in on the latest camp news whilst she sat pretending to listen). And every so often she'd catch a glimpse of raven hair belonging to the boy who was hanging onto the cabin eleven table for dear life; the crease in his forehead being evidence enough of his small struggle.

She laughed at his misfortune.

He looked back at her, as though in the chaos of the twelve cabins, her laugh had still alerted his senses as his eyes fell tightly onto her. He gave her a tight smile, gesturing to his unlucky situation to which she raised her eyebrows, almost as if to mock him yet he didn't seem to care—he'd taken to noticing her fresher appearance.

He'd still seemed locked onto her eyes, the two panes of looking glass that he felt could've held all the secrets he would've traded his soul to know. She seemed different in a way, thriving and glowing under the glow of the moon. And Percy would've dared to say her skin emitted a silver, milky glow as though she were a fragment of personified moonlight. Artemis, goddess of the moon, she'd told him. It made sense why she seemed to shine brighter—her hair looked shinier, her skin looked smoother and her eyes seemed to glow like lilac flowers.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent—successfully snapping Percy from his daze. He raised a glass, his paternal grin forever lighting up his face, "To the gods!"

"To the gods!"

A group of small, unique-looking wood nymphs came in with platters of various fruits, breads, and cheeses, placing them on the tables. The glass beside Colette quickly filled up with a pale green substance—apple juice. If there was one thing Colette archer loved, it was freaking apple juice. Then she loaded on a portion of fries onto the plate before her, alongside garlic bread and an extra slice of crisp chicken before she stood up from her seat, Will following quickly after the older girl.

She walked closer, standing before it and scraping off the piece of extra chicken as she added, "Artemis." The warmth of nostalgic cake-mix filled her senses alongside the cool taste of cherry coke as she stood before the fire. She smiled faintly before turning back to her seat and continuing on with her meal.

Once everybody had finished eating, Chiron pounded his hoof again to attract the campers' attention.

Mr. D got up with a huge, overly dramatic sigh that reminded Colette of her older cousin who had still taken to ignoring her, only peeking at her every once in a while out of the corner of his eye. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello." Grumbled Mr. D, "Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

The infiltrating sound of ugly laughter, like nails against a chalkboard forever on repeat, pierced through her eardrums as the Ares table cheered with violent applause.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." Colette turned at the butchered mention of the boy's name, giving Lee, who had finally looked back at her, a tight-lipped smile before mouthing, "toilet boy."

Chiron murmured something. "Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected but Colette could tell Chiron's words had gone in one ear and out the other. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everybody cheered and rose from their seats, finding their friends before venturing down to the amphitheater. As always, the Apollo cabin led the campfire songs, singing about the gods and then songs that were popular within the eighties and nineties. From where she sat beside Annabeth, toasting a marshmallow and laughing at a joke the blonde had made, the events of the day had melted to the back of her mind.

It was these moments Colette strived for. The ones where she and Annabeth could howl with laughter as they sang the words to songs wrong but it simply didn't matter because as did others. She grinned as she pulled a tired Will Solace into her arm, letting him practically hang on like a koala as she placed her chin on his head of shaggy blonde hair. And even as, from across the campfire, she'd seen Percy send her a smile—he looked happier now, more at home.

But when the campfire had died and the campers were retreating back to their cabins, Percy's smile faded as he went to speak to brunette, only for her to be long gone and lost in the plethora of campers.

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THE NEXT FEW DAYS WERE, well, easier. Colette continued to go to her lessons as normal, sometimes helping out in the infirmary with those who'd been unlucky enough to fall from the climbing wall or walk through the archery field. She hadn't seen much of Percy, though they shared 'general mythology' lessons together and had once been partnered for volleyball, but other than that the only times she'd seen him where during meal times.

She'd seen him try and participate in Archery, which had actually left her feeling almost offended at how poor he was with the weapon, and she almost debated going over to teach him how to learn before she was distracted by Silena asking for help with the pegasi.

Her dreams had also come to a full stop. And she'd now instead started dreaming of nothing, just inky, soundless blackness that swallowed her vision entirely and left her awakening with a timid emptiness, and she almost missed her dreams about the boy—who she'd narrowed to be Percy.

It had been early the next morning after Percy's awakening that She'd been confronted by Chiron. He was kind as he spoke to her, and Colette had always believed that he was doing his best to fill the nonexistent void of 'father' in her life. But she didn't mind, she appreciated it really. But he'd asked her to keep a distant eye on Percy, only to make sure he settled in comfortably. And not wanting Chiron to be disappointed in her, She'd agreed reluctantly.

But just because she would watch out for him from time-to-time certainly didn't mean she would go out of her way to be his best friend.

She could tell Percy was tainted by her lack of communication to him. He'd try and walk towards her and she'd be gone before he could reach her, and whenever he tried to catch her attention in their lessons, she ignored him to speak to Annabeth. She was confusing and Percy was starting to believe that she didn't want to be friends, or even associated with each other.

He pursed his lips with a frown whenever they saw each other. Did she not want to be his friend? Maybe she was embarrassed of hanging around him—especially given that he'd heard a whisper of the nickname, 'toilet boy' float around once or twice. But he tried not to believe that—narrowing it down to rather she was simply too busy to deal with the newbie. Sure, he'd seen her resting in the meadow with some of her cousins, but still, she was probably busy and he didn't want to be a bother.

So he continued to carry on with his activities. He participated in wrestling, his back having ached from being body slammed by clarisse one too many times. However, on the fifth time, she'd gone slightly easier on him, sparing a look over his head and he'd watched her eyes narrow on something ( or somebody ) before she let him fall back onto the ground below—and he was sure he'd caught a glimpse of threatening violet eyes.

But nevertheless, he carried on with his day, attempting different activities which left him spiralling in his own disinterest. He squirmed to know who his father was—he wanted to be claimed and to simply awake whatever gifts his father would provide. But at this rate, he almost thought he'd be left unclaimed like some of those within the Hermes Camp.

He certainly wasn't as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. He didn't have the same connection to animals as Colette did. Nor did he have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork or—gods forbid— Dionysus's way with vine plants. He shivered as Luke told him he might've been a child of Hermes, and it hadn't taken him long to recognise Luke's resentment to his father.

But speaking of the tall blonde boy, he stood with a flushed grin before the Jackson boy, his chest rising and falling with adrenaline as he faced the small crowd of Hermes kids. He was showing them quick and effect sword fighting techniques and given that he'd been claimed as 'the greatest swordsmen in the last three-hundred years', Percy didn't think he posed a threat against the older boy.

And he didn't. It had taken all of five minutes to get his ass kicked by the son of Hermes and now they were taking a small fountain break before continuing. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea to Percy which prompted him to do similarly.

Instantly, adrenaline surged through his skin, building electrifying floods of energy that spurred through his veins in a powerful sea of strength. He felt his fingers close around the sword and suddenly, it didn't feel so awkward.

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

Great, he scowled internally. Let's all watch Percy get pounded.

The Hermes children gathered around, nudging each other as they suppressed smiles. He figured they'd been in his shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used him for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique." He demonstrated the move on the younger boy in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of his hand. "Now in real time," he began, after Percy retrieved his weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"

The younger boy nodded, and Luke came after him with quick, calculated agility. Somehow, he kept the taller boy from getting a shot at the hilt of his sword. His senses felt heightened, adjusting to his every move and counter. He stepped forward and tried a thrust of his sword but Luke deflected it easily, but a change arose on his face. Almost dangerous. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press against Percy with more force, with more intent.

The sword grew heavy in Percy's hand. The balance wasn't right and he could feel the slip of energy in his bones like the drips of water that he quickly shook off. He knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took him down, and with an impulsive shrug he thought to himself internally, What the hell? He tried the disarming maneuver.

His blade hit the base of Luke's and he twisted, putting his whole weight into a downward thrust and grimacing as he did so.

Clang! Luke's sword rattled against the stones. And the lethal, shining tip of Percy's blade was an inch from his undefended chest. The other campers grew silent, holding their breaths as they witnessed something they never had before.

Percy flushed, and was quick to lower his sword. "Um, sorry." He apologised, almost fearful of how Luke would perceive his move to disarm him, especially given that it had never been done before.

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak, staring at him silently before he let out a breath. "Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

The Raven-haired boy harboured an unsure look as he glanced at the growing crowd around him, his gaze fleeting over the curious eyes but locking onto a familiar pair of violet. Stood in the forming crowd, Colette stared back at him, almost impressed. Beside her, a tall boy with a surfer-ish appeal threw his head back in a laugh, his tanned skin crinkling around his violently blue eyes. No doubt a son of Apollo, he looked to be the oldest too so Percy suspected he was the councillor. His appearance differentiated strangely from the younger girl beside him's. Where he flowed like sunlight, she radiated with a moonlit gleam.

He turned back to an awaiting Luke, who grinned back at him. Percy honestly didn't want to— the short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned him and left him as nothing but the meek twelve-year-old he was. But Luke insisted. This time, there was no contest. The moment their swords connected, Luke hit Percy's hilt and sent the raven-haired boy's weapon skidding across the floor.

After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"

Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He gazed at him with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he shrugged. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword..."

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FRIDAY COULDN'T HAVE come quicker and soon enough all the campers were thrust into the dining pavilion, practically glittering in adrenaline-fused excitement and a hidden shower of battle-lust. It was time for the moment everybody had been anticipating—capture the flag. Campers yelled and cheered with excitement as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. The blonde grinned as she passed by her best friend who cheered alongside her cousins, winking at the girl proudly.

The flag was about ten feet long and a glistening grey colour, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her siblings ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red and scratchily painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

The teams were quickly announced—Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Alongside Artemis' cabin but almost everytime Athena was a team captain it was already predicted that the two would team up.

On the other hand—Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. But Colette wasn't really worried despite the competitiveness that poisoned the air. There were only two Dionysus kids, Pollux and Caster and they weren't the most intimidating boys she'd ever met—similarly to their Hephaestus kids. The Demeter kids were powerful, she knew that. But they weren't very aggressive, and often forgot they were even participating unless they had something to gain from it. And lastly, the Aphrodite kids mostly spent their time looking upon their appearances in the lake or gossiping with their siblings.

That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, roughest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.

Chiron stomped his hoof against the floor, his voice bellowing over the flurry of apprehensive children and teens. "Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!" He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.

Colette was quick to move forward, reaching for the sword that seemed to twinkle back at her, carved and encrusted with depictions of the moon and her wildlife creatures on the earth below. The sword was made of celestial bronze, with a pouring of reflective silver that wrapped in individual streaks to the tip of the sword and small amethyst quarters were fabricated into the design. It was fitting, and though it wasn't her initial weapon of choice, she treated it as such.

If she needed her bow, she already had it prepared.

She strapped on her steel chest plate and shoulder pads, along with her black fingerless gloves ( which were actually Luke's but he didn't need to know ). She went to walk out towards the south woods as she heard Annabeth's loud cry of, "Blue Team, forward!" But a calloused hand reached out to grab her arm before she could do so.

"Woah, kiddo," the amused masculine voice of Luke Castellan caught her attention as she looked up to the older boy who plunged a helmet down upon her head with a loud thunk! She blinked in response and he continued on, "let's not try and lose our heads, yeah?"

Colette let out a huff, feigning mock annoyance as she crossed her arms. "I don't know why you call me that. You're not actually that much older than me, you know? You just like to think you are 'cause you're taller."

"Taller, stronger, cooler," listed Luke, grinning when the younger girl pushed him away playfully, "what? You don't think so?"

"I think you're more full of yourself."

The boy rolled his eyes with a huff, "oh, really? Well if that's the case then I won't lend you my gloves anymore." He glanced down to the gloves encasing her hands before looking up to her eyes with a smug glint in his.

"You wouldn't dare." Replied the brunette as they walked towards the path leading towards the south woods.

"Try me, kiddo." He grinned, leaning down so he could actually be eye-to-eye with her. He chuckled at her expression before his features suddenly grew hardened as though almost all traces of humour had been sucked out of his blood. "Seriously, though. Be careful."

Colette let out a scoff, harbouring a small smirk before she caught his deadpanned expression. He was serious—more than he was normally and she wasn't entirely sure why. "I will." She responded quietly.

And he smiled again, patting her on the back lightly and encouraging her to go to her post. "I know you will. Now get out of here and I best not see you trying to take on about ten Ares kids by yourself, y'hear? Lee'll kill me and then he'll kill you."

Colette walked away, shaking her head at the boy's words. "I hear." She replied, and they both knew her words were meaningless. If she was confronted by a gang of bigger kids, she still wouldn't back down without a fight. And besides, she wouldn't complain to see Clarisse and her friends turn into a pack of Jackelopes or weasels. "Be safe!" She called out, feeling Luke's burning gaze pierce into her back as she walked deeper into the forest.

"You be safe!"

Colette didn't turn back to him, instead retreating beyond his view and into the familiarity of the forest. The sun has dimmed noticeably and the moon threatened to take it's place in the haze of the setting sky. The skyline paused like that of a painting, a silky tie of pink and amber lights fused with gold and red that decorated the sky in a blanket of warmth.

This was what she'd spent the better part of her week anticipating—leaning over Annabeth's shoulder as the blonde schemed and devised. She watched the interaction of other cabins through the corner of her eye—narrowing down on the whispers and smirks passed between the Ares Cabin, specifically the scheming and cruel Clarisse La rue and her vengeful posse. And her gut seemed to foresee the image of Clarisse tearing down an unsuspecting Percy Jackson scratch by scratch.

They were going for Percy, aiming for him with sinister ambition.

She knew what Annabeth's plan was: to set Percy on border control, which was coincidentally visible to see from where Colette knew Clarisse had been posted. And the fourteen-year-old wouldn't be able to resist closing in on Percy whilst he was alone, but it did mean that capturing the flag would be much easier without clarisse sneering and slicing at anybody who got close. He was the bait. And maybe it was a bit unfair, but he'd live.

it would be alright, she was going to be there. If he was too overwhelmed or Clarisse was too driven by bloodlust, she'd step in.

The trees were silent bar the rare and sharp clashes of metal swords clashing together that ricocheted through the distant air. But the only sound that resounded through Colette's helmet-covered ears was the thumping of blood as she traversed through the forest. It seemed to unfold around her, each aged tree radiating a new elegance and every whistle of the wind covering the creasing sound of her footsteps.

Her hand ghosted over the quiver that stored her arrows—they were silver in colour and made to fit and bend to whatever target her mind was set on. They regenerated too once they had been used, blessed to never run out for as long as they were needed. The bow itself had been nicknamed Atlanta in honour of the Greek warrior. Colette had always been a good archer—the best in the camp; Annabeth used to muse that it was prophesied and manifested by her last name.

She sheathed her sword—which she and Annabeth had named Irena after the star—reaching for one of her arrows as a boastful, thundering voice directed orders only a short distance to the left of her: "he's there."

Clarisse had fallen right where they wanted to her to be, distracted and away from where the flag rested, and Colette didn't even have to guess that Luke already had his eye sat upon the fabric. She could hear the rumbling and scraping of Clarisse's footsteps against stones, closing in on her target, completely unaware of the girl in the woods.

Further down the creek, Percy stood severely unamused and slightly frustrated as he stood absentmindedly kicking stones and tracing the pattern of his shield. It seemed everybody knew what they were doing, locked tightly into their independent mindset of analysing the best way to win, but then there was him who felt outcasted; forgotten.

A shiver coated his spine as he heard the brutish and sly female voice call out from down the creek, "Cream the punk!"

And of course the only culprit could be the pig-eyed daughter of Ares. Her dull eyes glared through the slits of her helmet as she brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light that reminded Percy of the flames of the fires that danced around the fireplace in montauk. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—not that that made Percy feel any better as his sword still felt unadjusted and heavy.

They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. He debated taking his chances and simply sprinting as far as his legs could carry him, but then again Clarisse was taller and he doubted she wasn't a good runner. Sure, he could stay and fight against the ares cabin, but it wasn't as though he had much time to think given that an ares kid was already storming towards him with vicious swings of his sword.

Percy managed to sidestep the first boy's swing, but the children of Ares were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded him like a circle of wolves closing on something more vulnerable, and Clarisse thrust at him dangerously with her spear. Lifting his shield as quickly as he could, he deflected the point, but a painful, electric chill ran like static all over his body and caused his hair to stand on end. His shield arm went numb, and the air burned with electricity.

Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric.

Another Ares son slammed him in the chest harshly with the butt of his sword and Percy fell back to the ground below with an achy thud. They laughed tauntingly, turning to those beside them and mocking his pained grunts.

"Give him a haircut," Clarisse demanded, a large and discomforting smirk pulling at her lips as she glowered down at him. "Grab his hair."

A spurge of anger coursed through the younger boy and he managed to get to his feet. Impulsively, he raised his sword, but before he could even step forward Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear and a fountain of sparks emitted at the collision. Percy's eyebrows knitted in pain, both his arms tingling with a foreign numbness.

"Oh, wow," Clarisse mocked, not even trying to feign a glimmer of fright. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."

"The flag is that way," he stated, pointing in the direction he'd seen many of the blue team run off towards.

One of her siblings scoffed at him, "Yeah." They said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid." She growled, gesturing towards him with the tilt of her weapon.

Percy only stared back, scowling noticeably, "You do that without my help," he told them, and though it wasn't the smartest thing to say, he felt satisfactory with himself.

Two of them came at him faster than he could blink. He backed up toward the creek, and tried to raise his shield in defence, but Clarisse was too fast. She jabbed her spear straight into his ribs, and it created a clash as it met the metal of his chest plate. As it was, the electric point just about shocked his teeth out of his mouth. Then, one of her cabinmates slashed his sword across the raven-haired boy's arm, leaving a deep and bloody slash across it.

Seeing his own blood made him dizzy—warm and cold at the same time and he could feel the blood pumping in his cheeks. And as the boy stalked closer to him again, a silver-tipped arrow cut through the air in a breeze of cool air. It was directed from the forest and managed to scrape across the boy's cheek before lacing into a tree behind him, but still creating a splatter of crimson that began to drip from the small wound.

It wasn't meant to be deadly, Percy noticed. It was a warning.

The Ares boy stepped back with a growl, turning to Clarisse who simply brushed off the warning. She wasn't too intimidated though he saw her jaw clench momentarily. She knew exactly who it was and god forsake that goddamn daughter of Artemis.

However, the boy recovered quickly. Too quickly for Percy to regain his strength, and once more did the boy close in on him, wiping the blood from his cheek and letting it smear down his jaw.

"No maiming," Percy managed to say between breaths, a nauseating look falling onto his features as he shook his head at the other boy.

"Oops," the older guy taunted. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege." He shrugged with a dark laugh as he pushed Percy into the creek and he landed with a splash in the water. A chortle of ugly, animal-like laughter resounded from the group and Percy honestly figured as soon as they were through being amused, he would die (if the archer from the forest didn't step in) But then something happened—something new.

The water seemed to flush and envelop his senses, as though the lake was encouraging him to not be belittled by his attackers. He felt energised, dripping with adrenaline and vitality that blanketed over his senses in a flood of possessive strength. And as Clarisse and her cabin mates ventured into the creek to continue their pitiful fight, Percy stood to meet them, encased in droplets of watery valour.

A boy rushed forward, burning with courage as he slammed his sword against Percy's, but to his surprise, the younger boy was stronger. He slammed the flat of his sword against the guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off, hitting him so hard that his eyes seemed to vibrate as his legs buckled and he clashed into the water below.

The disgruntled figures of Number Two and Number Three came at him with fused annoyance. And once again, he slammed one in the face with his shield and used his sword to shear off the other guy's vibrantly red horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick, and number four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy that seemed to reflect the rage and thirst for battle that gleamed in her eyes. As soon as she charged forward, Percy caught the shaft between the edge of his shield and his sword, and he snapped it like it was nothing more than a twig in the forest.

"Ah!" she screamed at him furiously. "You idiot! You fucking worm!" She probably would've said worse, yet before she could, he smacked her between the eyes with his sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.

Then a series of Jovial, celebratory laughter and cheers broke out past the tree line, following a grinning Luke who carried the red-team's banner tight in his grip. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares kids Percy had been fighting had gotten up, their faces tainted in humiliation and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.

"A trick!" she cursed. "It was a trick." Her eyes narrowed on Percy, overbearing with malice and hatred and she could've pounced on him in that moment had she not been more concerned about Luke's winnings. They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory, laughing as he did so.

The blue team exploded into cheers as the red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The misshapen figure of a boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. The older teens from the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders, high-fiving each other and congratulating the tall boy as Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. And they'd won.

"Not bad, hero." A voice caught his attention and he whipped around in search of where it had came from, yet there was nobody there expect him. For a moment, Percy almost thought he'd hallucinated the sound before the air shimmered before him.

Annabeth materialised, holding a Yankees baseball cap in her hand that she'd just pulled off her head. "Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" she asked, looking behind him with a small, almost missable nod.

But Percy wasn't pleased, no he was angry. He glanced behind him and for some reason, he wasn't even surprised to see Colette coming to a stand. Her helmet has long been discarded and her hair had fallen over her shoulder as she brushed it out with her hand.

"You set me up," he accused, his brows pinched together and a scowl coating his lips. "Both of you. You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around to get the flag. You had it all figured out." His glare was directed towards Annabeth before he turned to glance at Colette, "And you just watched! It was you, wasn't it? With the arrow."

Annabeth shrugged, "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverised."

Colette frowned, "it's not anything personal, Percy, besides if you were actually in real danger, do you think we would've allowed it? Do you honestly think Chiron would?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him as she spoke in a tone that was almost challenging. But he only glared back at her as though it had been her who had attacked him prior.

"I don't care. If it were you in this situation, I'd of helped you!" He responded back, pointing a finger at her accusingly, "But no, you just watched! Who does that, what's wrong with you?"

Colette looked back at him, her mouth slightly agape before she stomped closer to him. Her gaze was hard and she clenched her jaw before speaking. "I did help you! Hell, I've been helping you out all week! If I hadn't sent that arrow, that boy would've pulverised you. Don't go taking your anger out on me now—I never forced you to make an enemy out of clarisse, that was on you!"

"Oh, really?" Challenged Percy, "Sorry, Bambi, it's not like I thought you'd have my back or anything! It's not like that's what friends do!" He said sarcastically, leaning towards where she stood just beyond the water.

"Guys."

"We're not friends, Jackson!" She sneered back at him, "not now anyways. I was showing you 'round camp, Moron. It's called being nice if you ever wanna try it some time!" She pointed a finger in his chest, pushing him backwards slightly and deeper into the water. She wasn't taller than him, but not smaller either — both meeting at around the same height despite how they tried to tower over the other.

"You're so infuriating!"

"Says you!"

"Pack it in, both of you." Thundered Annabeth as she pulled back the brunette by her wrist as though she were an angry dog on a leash. "You've got plenty of time to argue later, but for now, look!" She pointed at Percy. "How'd you do that?"

Percy spared the brunette one last annoyed glance before turning to Annabeth with a blank look. "Sword cut." He replied, as though it were obvious. "What'd you think?"

The blood from the wound on his shoulder was gone. As though it had never even been there in the first place. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As the three watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

"I—I don't get it," Muttered Percy in bewilderment, but the two girls stared at him piercingly. It seemed to fall into place and he watched Annabeth turn to the brunette with a knowing look before the brunette did the same twenty seconds after.

Turning back to him, Colette demanded, "Get out of the water."

"No." Annabeth had to quite literally hold back the brunette from lunging at the boy who scrunched his nose back at her.

The blonde girl gave him a serious look, barren of amusement and her voice held more dominance than he would've assumed. "Percy, just do it."

With a grunt, Percy came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired, his limbs beginning to ache and his head pounded faintly. His arms started to go numb again—his adrenaline rush having abandoned him almost completely. And he almost fell forward until Annabeth went to push him into a stance again— Colette having just looked at him with irritation as he nearly fell.

"Oh, Styx," cursed Annabeth, pursing her lips with a deep frown. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus... ."

Before he could ask what she meant, a guttural and approaching growl rumbled against the ground, the sound of a canine that threatened the trees with vibrations and almost forced the water to retreat. A howl ripped through the forest. The campers' cheering died instantly, confusion brewing as they looked over to the scene. Chiron's voice echoed over the creek, his tongue was riddled in Greek but instantly Colette's bow was raised, a silvery arrow ready to shoot at anything that moved inhumanely.

There on the rocks just above where the campers' stood was a black hound the size of a rhino, possessing eyes of bloody, boiling red that burned like eternal flames that seemed complimented by it's overgrown fangs that prodded from it's slobbering Jaw. And it was looking straight at Percy.

Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"

She tried to step in front of him, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow of inky blankness that swallowed everything beneath it whole—and just as it hit him, as he stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through his armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows and the monster fell dead at his feet.

But his armour was ripped, painted in splatters that seemed to pour in fractured crimson liquid. He felt warm and frozen at the same time, his lips dry and oxygen seemed hard to retrieve. He watched as Colette glanced back at him, grimacing noticeably as she scanned his chest. He was bleeding, badly.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth recalled, turning to look up at Chiron. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..." her voice faded as though she couldn't believe the words she was saying.

"Someone summoned it," Chiron revealed, a grave expression falling over his face as he glanced over the campers who relied on him. "Someone inside the camp." As he spoke, Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten and his moment of glory gone, wiped away like a burned out candle flame, eliminated and left to smoke itself to nothing.

Seizing her opportunity. Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Oh, give it a rest, Clarisse! You lost, get over it." Colette whipped around to the taller girl, her teeth grit together and her gaze narrowed upon the fourteen-year-old who looked back at her menacingly. Clarisse went to talk again before being cut off by Chiron, who quietened her with an annoyed glance.

"You're wounded," Annabeth noted after watching the hellhound's body disintegrate into nothingness. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not," she snapped back at him before turning to grasp Chiron's attention. "Chiron, watch this."

Colette lowered her bow as she folded her arms, watching as Percy stumbled backwards into the creek once more. She knew what Annabeth was thinking, and honestly, she shared the blonde's trail of thought. It made sense.

Children of Artemis worked best in moonlight, children of Demeter worked best in nature, children of Apollo worked best in sunlight — children of Poseidon worked best in water, and stood before them was Percy knee-deep in small waves. Instantly, the cuts on his chest began to stitch themselves up and disperse the clusters of blood surrounding him.

"Look, I—I don't know why," he stuttered tiredly, trying to apologise but people weren't actually looking at him. "I'm sorry...."

"Percy," Colette intercepted, her gaze locked onto something above his head as she pointed towards it. "Um... look up."

A vibrantly green holographic symbol illuminated the space above his head, spinning and gleaming proudly in the shape of a radiant trident. It faded slowly, dissolving into nothingness yet people still continued to stare soundlessly.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good." She breathed out, her head shaking softly.

Chiron swallowed thickly, his voice was loud and resounded over the campers ears as they gathered around to stare. "It is determined." He declared.

All around Percy, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. And close by, Colette harboured a look of pale irritation as Annabeth pulled her down to kneel. Percy had annoyed her and that wouldn't change simply because of his parentage.

"My father?" He inquired, completely bewildered as he watched the campers kneel.

"Poseidon," stated Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

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( authors note : )

Lee, will and collie are so special to me I can't wait to break my own heart in tbotl lol.
I cant wait to get into Collie's powers, they're almost all drawn from the Wikipedia page which for some reason just has what powers kids of Artemis would have which is kinda weird but still helpful for me so I'm not complaining :))

see ya next chapter <3